On October 24, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is set to visit Russia for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. This marks Guterres’ first trip to Russia in over two years. The Kremlin announced that the discussions will focus on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The United Nations has yet to officially confirm this meeting, and Ukraine has strongly criticized Guterres’ decision to engage with Putin.
According to reports from The Guardian and AFP, the meeting is scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, a central city in Russia. Moscow aims to leverage this summit to demonstrate that the West’s attempts to isolate Russia due to the war in Ukraine have failed.
The Kremlin stated, “In addition to UN activities, they are expected to discuss pressing international agenda items, including the Middle East crisis and the situation in Ukraine.”
When asked during a press briefing in New York whether Guterres would be traveling to Kazan later this week, UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq mentioned, “Details regarding his future travel will be announced later.”
Guterres has previously criticized Moscow for its military aggression towards Ukraine, describing it as a “dangerous precedent” for the world. However, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has expressed that meeting with Putin at this time “will not advance the cause of peace” and “diminishes the reputation of the United Nations.”
In a statement on social media platform X, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry remarked, “The UN Secretary-General turned down our invitation to participate in the inaugural Global Peace Summit held in Switzerland. Yet, he accepted an invitation from war criminal Putin to visit Kazan.”
